PNC in the News

Time running out for orangutans: conservationists (AFP) - 20 December 2009
Erik Meijaard, who studies orangutans in Indonesia, claims that deforestation is responsible for the loss of up to 3,000 orangutans a year in Borneo. "If we are losing them at the rate that we are losing now, they are going to be pretty much gone in 15 to 20 years," says the ecologist from the Indonesia-based People and Nature Consulting International. » Full Article

Acacia plantations are not good orangutan habitat, says Erik Meijaard (Kompas) - 17 November 2009
Recent studies by Erik and colleagues have shown that significant numbers of orangutans survive in the acacia plantation areas in East Kalimantan. This has given the impression to some that acacia plantations are good orangutan habitat. Erik clarifies in this article that although acacia provides some food to orangutans, the long term survival of this great ape will depend on maintaining a matrix of good forest with plenty of fruit within the plantations areas. » Full Article

PNC's Erik Meijaard is interviewed about the Orangutans' struggle to survive as palm oil booms (Agence France-Presse) - 22 October 2009
Cinta, a baby orangutan found lost and alone in a vast Borneo palm oil plantation, now clings to a tree at a sanctuary for the great apes, staring intently at dozens of tourists. She is one of the casualties of the boom in palm oil -- used extensively for biofuel and processed food like margarine -- which has seen swathes of jungle felled in Borneo, an island split between Malaysia and Indonesia... » Full Article

Erik Meijaard comments on Indonesia's costly plan to slash carbon emissions (Radio Australia) - 1 September 2009
Indonesia says it could cut its carbon emissions by more than 40 per cent by 2030, by reducing deforestation, peatland degradation and power use.
But this ambitious target won't come cheap - the Government's National Climate Change Council estimates the cost of achieving this reduction will be more than $US30 billion. Just who should pay for this and how is one of the many sticking points leading up to the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen later this year.. » Full Article

Based on a conference presentation in Malaysia, PNC's Erik Meijaard is quoted in the World Growth Forestry and Poverty Project Newsletter - Issue 7, October 2009
Meijaard's program had confirmed populations of 3000 orang-utans living in acacia plantation areas in Borneo. The orang-utans were gaining part of their dietary requirements from the acacia trees themselves, although Meijaard was quick to point out that acacia bark was no substitute for a balanced diet from natural forests as well as plantations.
Meijaard stated that there were "real opportunities" for the pulp and paper sector to collaborate on conservation programs. » Full Article